Saturday, March 31, 2012

March was a bread-baking month. There was soda bread, rye bread, and this absurdly delicious egg bread, made in honor of Bread Baking Day 48.

Zorra, the esteemed founder of BBD, asked Astrid to be the hostess this month. Astrid chose Bread with Eggs as the theme, and a good choice it was.

In my search for a recipe, I came upon this particular one that uses a bread machine, Golden Egg Bread with Dried Fruit. I added some dried tart cherries to the dough, big ones from Michigan. I also used some lemon infused oil that added a lovely background note to the flavor.

And, to add that special touch, I braided the dough.

Both the texture and taste were wonderful; it was delicious either plain or toasted. I was sad when the last crumb had disappeared.

For more information on Bread Baking Day, past and present, head over to Zorra's website. For the BBD48 roundup, stop by Astrid's blog. And, to get this fabulous egg bread recipe, go to Paula's website, where you'll find all sorts of goodies.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The preparation technique is a bit different than other breads, requiring careful and delicate folding of ingredients. I tried not to be skeptical, and was somewhat concerned whether my right hand was going to survive (it's way over used), so I halved the recipe and made just one loaf.

While not a mistake, this is most certainly a two-loaf kind of experience. I fear my solitary loaf will disappear way too soon. I'm looking forward to trying a slice toasted.

I chose to sprinkle the top with anise seed, one of my favorite flavors. The little guys actually stuck this time. Must have been the egg wash.

I'm sending this over to Astrid for her Buddy Roundup. If you don't have the cookbook and would like to try your hand at this delicious bread, stop by Astrid's blog for the recipe. While you're at it, check out the results from the other Babes.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Over the years, I've made rugelach from a variety of recipes. This time, there were two differences -- the shape and the filling.

When I checked my pantry for dried fruit, I found I had too few apricots, but just the right amount of prunes. So, I made half a recipe of the prune lekvar. It made a ton of filling. I'd hate to see how much the full recipe made. At this rate, I will have to make many more rugelachs just to use it up.

I made all the components over a span of a few days. First, I prepared the lekvar. Then, I made the cookie dough. It came together easily and was well chilled by the time baking day rolled around.

On the big day, I made the cinnamon sugar mixture, cinnamon sugar-nut mixture, and the finely chopped nuts. I also halved those recipes and also have quite a bit left over. Except for the chopped nuts. I used all of those.

The dough was rolled out and trimmed, then spread with the prune lekvar and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and finely chopped nuts. I chose to omit the extra dried fruits, since I thought the prune filling was sufficient.

I formed the dough into logs and chilled them well before slicing. The rolls were well lubricated with an egg wash before the slices were dunked in the cinnamon sugar-nut mixture.

Heading to the oven:

The end result was a really, tasty pastry-like cookie. The prune filling was a nice complement to all the cinnamon sugar.

My neighbor happens to be an expert on rugelach, so upon tasting her share, she gave them thumbs up. Well, actually, she inhaled them all. Proof enough.